Category Archives: awesome products

Today in the mail I got my first Nerdy Post box in the mail! I have recently discovered these geek boxes and this is already my second Sara J Maas one. It’s such a thrill when they come in!

Morrigan quote shirt

I knew I had to get this box as soon as I saw the shirt that was included. This gorgeous Morrigan quote shirt features Illyrian wings and the three peaks and three stars of Rhysand’s tattoo. Nevermind the fact that the quote is super inspirational!

Being an awesome geek box it also included the following goodies. All of them totally swoon-worthy for a true Sara J Maas fan!

Double sided bookmark. Featuring Rowaelin and Feysand.

Carranam lip balm. Carranam is someone you can link magic with.

Beautiful Starfall enamel pin.

Amazing postcards featuring cities in both series and a coloring one.

Two quote cards, one about Aelin and one about Celaena.

Beautiful quote poster.

Really pretty sticker.

As you can see, Nerdy Post did an amazing job putting this box together!

Have you ever gotten a nerdy or geeky box? What was your favorite? If you could get one, what would you want the theme to be?

It’s been a little while since I’ve done a product plug, but I am amazed by the results of this, so of course I have to share my experience!
I originally saw an advertisement for this while browsing different Pinterest links, and thought, why not? My house is primarily hardwood floors, and I love it because it is easier to clean than carpet. The worst I get is clumps of pet hair that need vacuumed or swept up, but that’s the price I pay for owning a menagerie!
The only complaint I have is that the floors are old and worn, desperately in need of refinishing. However with kids and pets, it’s tough to find the time and money to do it. Aside from the fact that the pets and kids would have to be cleared out of the house while the floor seals dry. Not an easy task to do!

This is by far the worst part of my floor. This is right after a mopping with my trusty Murphy’s Oil. No shine left to this part, right outside my kitchen and the main walkway towards the side room and garage. It gets a lot of human and pet traffic.

This is the same section of floor after 3 coats of Quickshine! You sweep and regular mop your floor and remember to let it dry COMPLETELY!

If your floor is a little wet, you’ll end up like this sad section next to my front door, looking like it’s peeling.
After your floor is all the way dry, spray some Quickshine in an S-shape and use a microfiber cloth to spread it evenly over your floor. Use caution in your pattern though because you should let it sit for 30 minutes before walking on it. It’ll be good after 20 minutes, thank you Zuko for showing me, but the company does recommend 30.

This picture shows a better contrast of before and after. Right beside my shoes and the table leg was mopped only, but the shiny spots have two layers of Quickshine.
I also picked up a multi surface Quickshine, but haven’t tested it yet. I’m hoping it’ll give new life to my linoleum kitchen floors!
I’ve been informed Walmart carries the multi surface version, although my store didn’t carry it. The hardwood version I found at Home Depot.
Shine on everyone, shine on!

So, I’ve talked about Longaberger Flameware before and how much I love it. Now it’s time to talk about their pottery. The Flameware is a relatively new product for Longaberger, but their pottery is a longterm product for them. My mom has owned them for years and I’m here to tell you that they are sturdy! I have distinctive memories of my dog, Canada, picking the bowls off the counter and finishing the leftovers. She never broke one.
The patterns of pottery have evolved over the years, to settle onto solid colors.

Some of the colors are cornflower (blue), paprika (red), sage (green) and several others. They occasionally bring back special or retired colors too. The variety of colors means that they can fit into every kitchen theme or decor. I personally have no specific color theme in my kitchen, so I own a variety of pottery colors!
An awesome feature about the pottery is the versatility. It’s dishwasher, freezer and oven safe. Dishwasher safe is a necessity for me! I can barely stand having to hand wash wine glasses! Freezer safe is always good for the pottery casserole dishes because you can prep and freeze enchiladas or lasagna and when your ready to eat them, pop them straight into the oven!

Another fun perk of the oven safe feature, more recently discovered, is that the personal size pizzas fit perfectly on the luncheon plates! This is also one of the colors they bring back occasionally, eggplant.
There is a wide variety of pottery products available through Longaberger. Everything from salt & pepper shakers, butter dishes, all the way to casserole dishes. If you want to see the full line and all options, you can check them out here.
We’ll call this another product plug, but I have been using my pottery quite a bit over the last few weeks, so it’s on my mind. Why wouldn’t I share this with you??

This is not a DIY post, but super cool nonetheless. Christmas is coming, as recently stated, and I’ve got a lot of Pinterest projects in the works for it. Some of them will require a label, and I’m not feeling up to making them myself.
I found this amazing site recently, http://www.myownlabels.com/labels/
You can choose specific styles for your labels, what you want written, and even select a picture to use.
I spent about an hour fiddling with the specifc layout I wanted before I chose the two styles I needed. There are a lot of choices!
I’m going to be making some caramel dip to go with an apple for the kids teachers this year and I wanted labels for that. I’m also about to attempt making my own vanilla extract, so that definitely called for some labels.

They came in the mail a few days ago and I just looked and grinned for a few minutes over them! Tony gave me a goofy look over my expression, but oh well.
I’m so excited to start on my projects, even more so now that I have these adorable labels to use. Head over and check them out. Maybe you can use some for your own Pinterest endeavors…….

Happy, happy day in the life of SuperStevieD! I got my new phone upgrade today. Needless to say every spare moment today has been spent playing on my new toy….
I’ve been debating phones with myself for months. Tony took the early uograde this year because he was beyond upset with his old phone and I was still content with my iPhone 4. He went with the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Yes it’s the giant phone with the S-pen. After about a week he was adjusted to the size and completely in love with his phone.
I had a huge dilemma now! I have been thinking of the iPhone 5 for months, since it’s release, then I was enjoying Tony’s Note II, then I started reading about the S4!
After much internal debate, I settled on the S4. The deciding factor was the camera. I am a picture crazy person and the megapixel count on this phone is higher than my camera! There are a ton of different settings. Night settings, motion settings that allow you to combine a motion shot like surfing or skateboarding, a best face option, and a best photo option.
The core processor is amazing. It is so much faster than my iPhone 4 was. Adjusting to the speed has been interesting.
Some more interesting options include the hand motion feature. You can wave your hand in front of the screen to scroll through the amazing photos you’ve taken or even answer your phone. I’ve had Tony call me twice just to test it!
I can’t begin to explain the specs and all that fun stuff, but I will refer you to http://www.urdesign.it/index.php/2013/03/15/samsung-galaxy-s-4/ for the specific details. I’d love to hear what all of you think of these phones if you have one. If not, be sure to pop in to your local Verizon store where most of them have a live demo now!

By now, some of you are aware of my love of Longaberger. For those of you that are unaware, Longaberger is an American based company that started out with handmade baskets.
40 years later, it’s still mostly about the baskets, handmade right here in Ohio, but today they feature pottery, home decor and as of last September, their new line of ceramic cookware, Flameware.
The pottery was made for many years overseas, but they recently opened a factory in Buffalo, NY where the pottery will now be made.
But I digress! This is all about their Horizon of Hope line. For the last 16 years, Longaberger has featured items depicting hope for those with breast cancer. Since they joined hands with the American Cancer Society, they have raised over 15 million dollars. Every year they release a basket set, available in the traditional basket colors and whitewashed/pink. They’ve recently added items such as reusable market bags, potpourri, travel mugs and more.
My favorite part about these products is that they are beautiful, functional and they give you an opening to discuss what is a very important issue. Breast cancer affects a great number of women and the search for a cure is important! This month is the only month the basket is available during the year and through the 16th of this month they have specials going on do several items. Head on over and check them out. It’ll give you a chance to be a part of something amazing and you get something, besides that feel good feeling, out of it!
Original pin and check out the specials here

We can call this a product plug, or we can call this my review of a product. I prefer to call it the latter. I’ve been in love with Longaberger products since I was around 8 years old. I got my first basket as payment for babysitting for a Longaberger consultant. I still have it and use it to hold my daughter’s hair-ties. Their products are sturdy and long lasting. They are a little pricey, until you realize that you will have these baskets, or other products, FOREVER! I’ve only had to have one basket repaired and that was a result of a puppy attack……
September 2012, Longaberger released their Flameware line. I hadn’t heard that much about ceramic cookware, but I’ve done some research on it since the release. Ceramic cookware is the wave of the future. Your average metal cookware, such as Pampered Chef (which I own a set of) or your average Wal-Mart pans, over time will break down and metal will leech into your food.
Normally I don’t follow these health worries. I’m more of the, if I don’t think about it, it’s less likely to happen! Silly and childish, but I can deal with it!
Price-wise, Longaberger Flameware, their ceramic cookware, is competitively priced, especially considering standard Longaberger quality. Before these products became available for sale, they offered the 11 1/2″ skillet as a sales incentive. I was very happy to get one. At first I was terrified of breaking it, but it’s sturdier than you would think ceramic cookware would be.
I think my favorite feature is that it reduces cooking time. I’m able to cook chicken faster, and at a lower temperature. We eat a lot of chicken in this house, so this is a big selling point for me! I was a little upset that the skillet didn’t have a lid, but they have recently released a lid, so that dilemma has been resolved.
Another big selling point is on the braiser, both dutch ovens, and now the lid to the skillets. The lids have little bumps on the bottom. You know when your cooking with a lid on your dish and you pull the lid off and the moisture just runs to whichever side you tilt? I’ve always hated this! These bumps however allow the moisture to drip back down onto your food, helping keep your meets moist.
Flameware is also available in all the Longaberger pottery colors (as seen in the picture), however the company is trying to resolve some problems with the lighter colors staining. Really this problem only exists on the white and yellow ones.
The Flameware does need to be ‘treated’ when you get it, but this is so simple it hardly bears mentioning. They give simple directions in the paper that comes with any Flameware purchase.
Longaberger now has a line including the 11 1/2″ skillet and lid, the braiser, the 2 1/2 qt dutch oven, the 4 qt dutch oven, a 8″ skillet and lid and a pizza stone. The best part of all of these products? They are Longaberger vitrified plus! They are safe for your freezer, dishwasher, oven, grill, stovetop and they look beautiful on your tabletop! Every piece comes with small rubber ‘oven guards’ for lack of a better word. They don’t go in the oven, but they allow you to remove your dishes from heat without using oven mitts.

To see more of these awesome products check this out or send me a message so I can give you some answers.
Also a friendly reminder, you can follow me on Pinterest, look for Stephanie DeSantis or send me an email at stephanie_desantis@live.com